Midnight Cat Wrangler-- Meow, Meow Y'all or How this all began......

How the Blog Began-- 11/4/2012

So, I'm sitting at the vet's office.  I've signed in, stated that Raggs needs his shots, and I've settled in to watch people.  I'm about ten down on the list so it should be a great afternoon.  I love going to see the different animals and their people.  We are an odd group-- diversity at its finest.  There are old, young, black, white, rich, poor owners with all types of pets.

Dogs that need surgery,  a cat with an abscess, puppies that need shots, a pair of pit bulls that scare me to death and I really don't find out what is the matter with them-- we are a cross section of mankind.  But, my story is about the little lady that I'm sitting next to.  She's old.  Maybe 90.  She has a great big cat carrier.  We start visiting.  

"I can't see much anymore, but Kitty's eye is bad."

Okay, you know me.  I visit.  I want to know about kitty.  

"Oooooo, what the matter?" I ask innocently.  

"Well," she begins,  "I can't see either well but Kitty's eye done swole up.  He don't let me touch him."

"How did you get him in the carrier?"  (I wanted to ask her how she picked the carrier up....she was a teeny, tiny woman and that was a huge carrier.)

The carrier's occupant keeps a low, steady growl going the entire time we're visiting.  

"That was easy," she smiled.  "I know Kitty likes raw meat so I just threw some in the carrier and I waited till  he came to eat supper.   I din't feed him til late.  He comes every night to eat supper with me but I waited til midnight to feed him.  He was real hungry.   I just slammed the door behind him and I brought him to see the doc today.  Kitty's got a bad eye."

The growl gets louder.  That is one spooky sound, I think.  I can't wait to see this animal.  Raggs is quivering in my lap.  He's whimpering, too.

I bend around and take a look at the cat.  Let me rephrase that-- I got a good look at the bobcat in the cat carrier.  "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, pray for us all!" I think.    Raggs is now trying to climb up my arm.    

With a gray to brown coat, whiskered face, and black-tufted ears, the bobcat resembles the other species of the mid-sized Lynx genus. It is smaller on average than the Canada lynx, with which it shares parts of its range, but is about twice as large as the domestic cat. It has distinctive black bars on its forelegs and a black-tipped, stubby tail, from which it derives its name.

"Kitty"

                                                             Domestic Kitty


"Ma'am," I ask, "Where did you get that kitty?"

"Oh, honey, he found me.  I started feeding him and he just grew and grew.  He's a fine cat but he won't let me touch him anymore.  Look at his eye."  

I'm no vet, but that cat had cat pink eye.  It was almost "swelled" shut.  Kitty was emitting a guttural growl that resonated in the waiting room.  

"Yes, ma'am.  Kitty does look like he needs to have the doc look at him."

The growling continued at a pitch that caused everyone in the waiting room  to stare at the cat carrier.  "He don't like coming here."  She smiled at the entire waiting room as she proclaimed her love of the vet and her love of Kitty.  By this time Raggs is wetting himself and the pit bulls are quivering.  Everyone in the room had figured out their own emergency management plan if that "kitty" got loose.   Her name was called, "Mrs. Smith, you're next.  Do you need help with Kitty?"

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As she exited the examination room, she announced to all of us, "Doc gave me some medicine to put in his food.  He didn't even have to take him out of the carrier.  He took one look and said some of these free antibiotics would make him right as rain.  No charge either.  This is Kitty's lucky day."

Frankly, it was all our lucky day.  The bobcat got medicine, Raggs didn't wind up as "Bobcat Chow", the little lady was tickled pink that she could fix her kitty and it didn't cost her a dime.   Life was good.  

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So why do I call the blog "Confessions of a Midnight Cat Wrangler"?  I want to be like that little lady.  She loved the unlovable and saw the potential in her free pet.  She helped things get better and was appreciative of people did for her.  She was crafty, clever, and full of joy.  I want to remember who I am and who I want to be.  AND I want to share the day to day stories that have been given to me.  I've always said that working at Central was like being part of an ensemble cast of a comedy/drama.  Being a wife and mother have given me stories to make you wet your pants laughing or wet your eyes crying.  Everywhere I go I see the the humor, the love, the ridiculous, the sorrow, the hope and the sublime-- and I write them down so I can enjoy them again and again.  

I'm willing to wrangle those stories into this blog on a regular basis.  I'm willing to confess my inadequacies, fears, and foibles.  I'll share those minutes of clarity that make me want to proclaim, "Life is good."  I want to be able to put my "bobcat" in a cat carrier and get 'er fixed for free.  So welcome to the world of the "Midnight Cat Wrangler."  Meow!

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